The Yankees announced Thursday Masahiro Tanaka will start Game 1 of the AL Championship Series Friday against Dallas Keuchel and the Astros.

New York will send Luis Severino to the mound in Game 2 to face off against Justin Verlander. The Yankees also named CC Sabathia their Game 3 starter, and pegged Sonny Gray for Game 4. The Astros have so far only named two starters.

The Yankees earned their way into the ALCS after erasing a two-game deficit against the Indians, thanks in part to Tanaka's seven shutout innings Sunday.

Houston is in a Championship Series for the first time since reaching the World Series in 2005 as a National League team.

While Keuchel will duel against Tanaka in Game 1, he shared some admiration Thursday for Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.

"Judge, I mean, he's an MVP candidate for a reason. And he's got such a bright future ahead of him that it's kind of crazy to think about how young he is," Keuchel said in a press conference. "His stature is obviously one of the biggest in the game, and it fits kind of the New York mold. But he's going to be — I've only pitched against him once, but he's going to be a mystery to me as well. And I think as long as I make my pitches, I'm going to fare well, but there's always that mistake pitch that he hits out.

"So it will be a good matchup for not only myself but for our pitching staff as well and just it will be a fun series."